A few months ago, two researchers from the Harvard Divinity School, Angie Thurston and Casper ter Kuile, asked to interview me for a report they were writing on a range of new organizations that they believed represented a sea change in millennial attitudes toward community, personal transformation, and — to my surprise — religion.

The organization that I founded three years ago, the Millennial Trains Project (MTP), was one of the ten entities that Thurston and ter Kuile chose to profile in their compelling and thought-provoking report, How We Gather, which was published last week.

I was initially surprised by Thurston and ter Kuile’s observation that MTP, which leads crowdfunded train journeys for young innovators to grow as leaders by connecting with communities and advancing purpose-driven projects across America, was analogous to the religious pilgrimages of certain faith-based communities.

A view from #MTPtrain’s dome car as the 2014 journey passes through Montana (Photo: Tyler Metcalfe, National Geographic Travel)

Nearly all MTP projects over the past three years have focused on non-religious topics, such as entrepreneurship, education, disaster preparedness, sustainability, public art, and creative placemaking. And yet, I must admit that there was a spiritual element to our last journey, especially thanks to one of our participants — Brandi Harvey of Atlanta, GA — whose MTP project (“Spiritual, not Religious”) examined millennial attitudes toward faith across America.

At the beginning of our journey, at Portland’s Union Station, I invited Brandi to lead our community in a prayer — our first ever — to bless our journey, prepare us for the challenges ahead, and keep us safe.

The MTP community prays for blessings at the outset of their 2014 journey. (Photo: Tyler Metcalfe, National Geographic Travel)

We all held hands and lowered our heads as Brandi asked that angels watch over us. They did, and over the next week, despite my own lack of religious conviction, I became convinced that she was one of them as she periodically led our community in rousing, impromptu motivational speeches that urged us to remain conscious, and be the change we wanted to see in the world.

The spirit that had brought our community together from all corners of the country and planet was a spirit of adventure, discovery, community, connection, and wonder — and the practice of celebrating the uniqueness of that spirit made our community stronger.

MTP participant Brandi Harvey (center) on the last day of MTP’s 2014 journey. (Photo: Tyler Metcalfe, National Geographic Travel)

Part of me would like to think there is something special about our train journeys that brings forth this inspiration and connectedness, but the reality is that our journeys are a mere microcosm of a broader sea change taking place throughout millennial America — one of many vehicles being used by my generation on our journey toward the most impactful, connected, purpose-driven lives we can possibly create.

What Thurston and ter Kuile’s report helped me to realize is that MTP is part of a growing movement of seemingly unrelated new organizations that satisfy commonly-held desires for personal transformation, community, and inspiration that in prior times might more likely have been met by religious institutions.

SoulCycle invites its customers to change their bodies while finding their souls. (Photo: SoulCycle)

Each of these organizations elevates to a more authentic plateau the aesthetic attributes, vernacular, and digital marketing tactics of the highly-considered corporate cause-based marketing campaigns that are continually directed at our age demographic.

They are almost a form of protest, pushing back against such campaigns and saying: “we don’t just want to buy stuff, we want come come together, care for one another, and live engaged, purposeful lives.”

Members of The Sanctuaries, a spiritually diverse creative community in Washington, DC, engage the local community with free performances on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. (Photo: Julio Jimenez)

These organizations are diverse, interfaith communities, first and foremost, but they are also brands that impart meaningful experiences and symbols to their devotees, which are then used to signal values via social media and in-person storytelling.

Beyond our loosely unifying style, the substance behind the millennial tribes profiled by Thurston and ter Kuile is decidedly more focused on the attainment and broadcasting of inner well-being as opposed to the affectation of affluence afforded by so many old-school consumer brands.

In one form or another, the organizations profiled by Thurston and ter Kuile are platforms for personal transformation, and this is where the authors’ comparisons to religious communities ring true.

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly a third of Millennials — roughly 25 million Americans aged 18–34 — are religiously unaffiliated, and only 10% are looking to join a religious community.

In the absence of engagement with traditional religious hierarchies and rituals, unaffiliated Millennials are gravitating toward values-based organizations that satisfy common human desires for personal improvement, inspiration, and community while also remaining accessible and inviting to the two-thirds of Millennials who are religiously affiliated.

At the same time, churches, synagogues, and mosques are racing to rebrand themselves to appeal to the next-generation.

The interplay between these trends, traditional religious hierarchies, and the new organizations profiled by Thurston and ter Kuile should not be seen as a challenge to religious, faith-based communities, but rather as a flourishing of community, connectedness, and personal growth being initiated by Millennials.

25 million religiously-unaffiliated American Millennials may be turning away from traditional religious movements and institutions, but it clearly doesn’t mean that they are turning away from the quest to live lives of purpose, depth, meaning, and service.

Organizations that can empower them to undertake that journey — and then guide them towards their own most authentic and deepest truths — are not only playing an important role in the lives of those Millennials. They are also ensuring that the world benefits from vast numbers of lives lived with purpose, passion, commitment, and spiritual wisdom and strength.

Meet the Author

Patrick Dowd is a creative strategist who works with the world's leading brands and institutions to craft transformative experiences that build leaders, engage communities, and tell powerful stories. As Market Innovation Lead at West, he helps visionary startups to identify and cultivate large markets for new ideas. An outspoken champion of cross-cultural understanding and purposeful travel, Dowd has been a featured speaker at the White House, US Department of State, the US Mission to the United Nations, and many local community organizations across America. His work has been profiled in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Forbes, Mashable, and Fast Company. As founder and CEO of the Millennial Trains Project, Dowd has pioneered an award-winning model for trans-regional leadership development and helped organizations such as NBCUniversal, The Rockefeller Foundation, US Department of State, IDEO, and National Geographic Traveler to forge authentic connections with next-generation innovators. In addition to having served as the youngest-ever Editor-at-Large for National Geographic Traveler, Dowd has been recognized by GOOD Magazine as one of the world's top 100 individuals at the cutting-edge of creative impact. Previously, Dowd worked as a J.P. Morgan investment banking analyst, U.S. Senate campaign speechwriter, and legal reporter. He was also a Fulbright Scholar in India, where he produced a documentary on informal sector e-waste recycling. As an advisor to the National Endowment for the Arts, Patrick is a champion for multidisciplinary creative projects and entrepreneurial ecosystems in communities across the United States. Dowd is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where he earned an MBA with a focus on strategy and innovation, and Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, where he served as Student Body President and honed his proficiency in French and Hindi. A member of the Explorers Club, he has traveled to over 50 countries.

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Researchers, conservationists, and others share stories, insights and ideas about Our Changing Planet, Wildlife & Wild Spaces, and The Human Journey. More than 50,000 comments have been added to 10,000 posts. Explore the list alongside to dive deeper into some of the most popular categories of the National Geographic Society’s conversation platform Voices.

Opinions are those of the blogger and/or the blogger’s organization, and not necessarily those of the National Geographic Society. Posters of blogs and comments are required to observe National Geographic’s community rules and other terms of service.